A Walk in the Woods

Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail

By: Bill Bryson

Narrated by: Bill Bryson

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The classic chronicle of a “terribly misguided and terribly funny” (The Washington Post) hike of the Appalachian Trail, from the author of A Short History of Nearly Everything and The Body

“The best way of escaping into nature.”—The New York Times

Back in America after twenty years in Britain, Bill Bryson decided to reacquaint himself with his native country by walking the 2,100-mile Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. The AT offers an astonishing landscape of silent forests and sparkling lakes—and to a writer with the comic genius of Bill Bryson, it also provides endless opportunities to witness the majestic silliness of his fellow human beings.

For a start there’s the gloriously out-of-shape Stephen Katz, a buddy from Iowa along for the walk. But A Walk in the Woods is more than just a laugh-out-loud hike. Bryson’s acute eye is a wise witness to this beautiful but fragile trail, and as he tells its fascinating history, he makes a moving plea for the conservation of America’s last great wilderness. An adventure, a comedy, and a celebration, A Walk in the Woods is a modern classic of travel literature.

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE©1998 Bill Bryson; (P)1998 Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

“Bryson is . . . great company right from the start—a lumbering, droll, neatnik intellectual who comes off as equal parts Garrison Keillor, Michael Kinsley, and . . . Dave Barry...[Readers] may find themselves turning the pages with increasing amusement and anticipation as they discover that they're in the hands of a satirist of the first rank who writes (and walks) with Chaucerian brio.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A terribly misguided and terribly funny tale of adventure...choke-on-your-coffee funny.”
—The Washington Post Book World

“A Walk in the Woods is an almost perfect travel book.”
—The Boston Globe

“The Appalachian Trail...consists of some five million steps, and Bryson manages to coax a laugh, and often an unexpectedly startling insight, out of every one he traverses...It is hard not to grin idiotically through all 304 pages...sheer comic entertainment.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Dead Tree was better

A wonderfully funny adventure of the middle-aged and the restless, but Bryson's humor translates better on the written page, or when a professional does the reading. His soft slightly British, slightly midwestern voice lacked the punch of the written word. Also, the abridgement left out way too many funny adventures along the way.

Just for Americans

It is not a bad book, but i did not find it that funny. I think you have to be a American to fully appreciate it.

Well Walked

Bill Bryson did an excellent job with this account of life on the AT. I appreciated some of the interesting trivia/facts he included, along with his experience of getting outfitted for his trek (amusing and unfortunately all too true!). The escapades and quirkiness of his hiking partner Katz made the whole thing even more entertaining -having carried some poorly-planned loads myself, I can completely envision his unloading of vital supplies (i.e., food) without thought.

I was only disappointed with two aspects. I did find Bryson to be sometimes over-critical and condescending toward various people, places and organizations he wrote of - which took away, rather than added to his adventure in my opinion. But I was even more disappointed when he revealed that he stopped his trek less than half-way, and then wrote about a series of fairly boring day-hikes on other sections of the trail. When he and Katz finally gave it up when they were barely into the 100-mile wilderness in ME, and before coming close to reaching Katadin, I was very let down. I had assumed he had written about a thru-hike, or at least a 2000-mile qualifier ... but this was not the case, and was a disappointing end to the tale.

Relaxing

I looked at this title a few times before I purchased it. Great story teller. Perfect for a cross country flight I took recently.

listened while walking

I listened to his struggles while walking on a perfectly flat, shaded concrete path, hehe.